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960 people in Limerick, Clare and North Tipperary did not show up for their scheduled Covid-19 testing appointment over the Christmas period, according to new figures.
The Midwest Department of Public Health, which compiled the figures, is now urging people in the region to attend pre-booked tests.
715 people missed their appointments at Limerick testing centers between December 24 and December 28: 576 at the county’s main testing center and 139 more at a pop-up facility near St John’s Hospital.
During the same period, another 138 people now showed up for testing in North Tipperary. 107 most missed exams in Clare.
The Midwest Department of Public Health believes that absences from testing, along with the recent large Christmas gatherings reported in recent days, have contributed to local outbreaks and the general spread of the virus there.
“We urge members of the public who have arranged a Covid-19 swab to attend the testing center and in the allotted time, as we continue to see many people miss their appointments,” the group said in a statement.
The group also says that some people have not been answering phone calls from Covid-19 contact trackers.
Public Health Mid-West says it has seen a “higher level of multi-household social gatherings” that had “escalated in the run-up to the Christmas holidays.”
Midwest Public Health Director Dr. Mai Mannix says the meetings observed in recent days have “added an additional layer to what is already a complex situation.”
People in the region have been asked to avoid large social gatherings of any kind for New Year’s celebrations.
“We don’t want a situation where new domestic cases bring undetected Covid-19 into new settings in the community for the next few days,” said Dr. Mannix.
“This would make complex outbreaks increasingly difficult to manage,” he added.
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